Senate Democrats spar over witnesses

WASHINGTON -- Awaiting the White House defense, Senate jurors sparred Sunday over whether witnesses should testify at President Clinton's impeachment trial. Democrats pledged to call their own witnesses, including Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and informant Linda Tripp, if the Republicans press forward.

''It will be a spectacle. It will go on and on, '' Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., said.

The trial resumes Tuesday, a few hours before Clinton is to deliver the State of the Union address to Congress, with White House lawyers defending the president and saying that even if he did lie about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, the offense is not grave enough to be removed from office.

White House lawyers met Sunday to work on the president's defense. Clinton, meanwhile, spent the day preparing for his speech.

''We will make the case that the allegations are not supported by the facts or by the law, and they do not warrant nullifying the results of a national election and removing the president from office,'' White House spokesman Jim Kennedy said.

Following the White House presentation and a period for senators to ask questions, the Senate set aside time next week for votes on motions, including House managers' demands that they be allowed to call witnesses and an expected Democratic push for dismissal.

Nearly one-fifth of the Senate -- 19 senators in all -- appeared on Sunday talk shows.

In addition to the witness debate, partisan lines also were drawn on the legitimacy of the case against Clinton, with Republicans saying House prosecutors last week presented convincing evidence that the president committed perjury and obstruction of justice. Democrats said they'd heard nothing worthy of conviction and again pushed the option of censure.

The House prosecutors mentioned Lewinsky, White House secretary Betty Currie and Clinton confidant Vernon Jordan as likely witnesses. Democrats say the summoning of witnesses could snowball and drag out the trial for months.

''It is not an exaggeration: If you go that route, ... we may be talking May or June before we finish this trial,'' Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said on NBC's ''Meet the Press.''

The White House's Kennedy said Starr had questioned at least 100 witnesses over eight months and ''the notion that even more witnesses are needed shows how weak the case is.''

Democrats made clear they would contribute to expanding the witness list.

''I'd be very interested in maybe having Linda Tripp, maybe having a whole host of people, ... and Ken Starr, all of whom might shed enormous light as to how it is we got here,'' said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

''If I am any reader of the tea leaves, front and center is going to be Kenneth Starr, and we will go through prosecutorial abuse,'' Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., said on CBS' ''Face the Nation.''

Republicans pointed out that a majority vote will be required for accepting each witness. ''We are not going to let this spin out of control,'' Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on CBS.

That Republicans would let the trial go on interminably, when the nation wants a quick conclusion ''assumes that we Republicans are singularly stupid,'' Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said on CNN's ''Late Edition.''

Torricelli made clear that the bipartisan spirit the Senate has maintained so far in the trial could disintegrate if House prosecutors are permitted to call witnesses but those called by the White House are rejected.

At least 12 Democrats would have to join the 55 Senate Republicans to get the two-thirds vote needed to convict. Of 10 Democrats interviewed Sunday on the news programs, not one signaled more sympathy toward conviction after hearing the House arguments.